Hey everyone! Guess what? I’m alive! Haha I was not eaten by any mountain lions (although there were some very noisy squirrels in the woods) and I made it to the summit and back down!
The whole trip took 9 hours including a half hour spent at the summit. It was SO HARD a little scary and pretty much awesome. The whole trip was 13.5 miles, with the last half mile to the summit being nothing but climbing over a giant steep pile of rocks… Almost got stuck but a hiker (the only one I saw on the way up!) showed me where I lost the “trail.”
I do have two regrets/lessons: 1) wear gloves. The first few hours I was either in the dark or in the shade of the mountain, my fingers were completely numb for hours. 2) wear sunscreen all over… My legs are horribly burnt. Like painful, I feel ill and want to sit in cold water burnt. I hope red legs look great in HLS photos! Oops.
Here are some photos from my trek!
do you like hiking?
what are you up to this weekend?
Great pictures!! Yes, I absolutely love hiking, though there aren’t many “real” mountains to hike up here in Illinois–mostly just small hills:) Still, there are some nice forests to hike through; one of my favorite is Starved Rock State Park. I don’t have any huge plans for this weekend; I will probably just be getting ready for the upcoming week, when my dance classes (and one of my 4 community college courses) begin. I got 2 of my wisdom teeth removed a few days ago, so I am still trying to recuperate from that:) I hope you have a great weekend!
Haha yea, not a lot of altitude change in Illinois!
Have fun at HLS! I wish that I were going!
Ahh I wish you were too!
That is one long hike! Your photos look great – thanks for sharing!
As a fellow runner, it always surprises me that hiking such long distances sometimes wears me out more than running a similar distance. My friends and I figure it’s because we spend more overall time on our feet walking a certain distance than running it.
Definitely, and all the downhill really killed my knees!
Did you do this solo? If so, congrats! We hike a ton of 14ers and other big treks here in Wyoming, but I haven’t even thought of venturing alone yet.
Haha I did! I tend to be pretty independent so I just wanted to do it and not wait for another time when I’d have someone with me
Glad it went well! Have fun this weekend!!
Thanks, Laurie!
YAY!!! NICE job! I do love hiking, but I love it more with my husband along with me 😉
Have fun at HLS!
Lol I’d love one of those!
Congratulations!! What an awesome accomplishment!
Have SO much fun at HLS! I’m crazy jealous. I think I’m going to have to stay off Twitter and blogs all weekend so I don’t explode with envy haha. I wish I could’ve gone sooooooooo bad!
Aww I would have loved if you came too!
Have fun at HLS!!! I wish I could be there!
I love hiking but living in Chicago means I don’t get to do it very often. I’m hoping to take a trip to Colorado next year though to visit some friends and hopefully get in some hiking.
Have fun at HLS!
You should, I love going to CO!
Way to go on that hike!! I swear we will be in CO at the same time one day, and we can hike a 14er together 🙂 Or maybe we can meet up in KC and walk on the trail and PRETEND it’s a 14er!
Have fun at HLS!! I wish I was there!
I wish you were here too!! Haha we’ll be in the same place at the same time someday!
That’s a seriously impressive hike! I enjoy hiking but I’ve never taken a trek like that by myself before.
Have a great time at HLS! Definitely jealous of everyone going. 🙂
O my gosh, a little in awe of you right now! Well done. What gorgeous scenery. I like walking (not sure where the distinction between walking and hiking lies) a lot, but have never attempted anything this immense!
Lol I think hiking involves trails and elevation gain?
Wow!!! The pictures are gorgeous! And you are absolutely amazing for doing that hike, especially all by yourself. Way to go, that’s very cool and inspiring. You must have felt amazing once you were done!
Haha great and tired!
that hike looks amazing! congrats for finishing it – i have never really hiked and its always super impressive when people do.
have an awesome time at hls, can’t wait to read all about it!
That looks like an awesome hike! I am taking my daughter hiking this weekend. I’m torn because I love Shennandoah National Park but I just learned about Great Falls (McClean, VA) and it’s only an hour away and it’s supposed to have a spectacular view!
I’m sure both would be amazing!
Were you BY YOURSELF?!?!?! I hope someone was with youu! Have fun this weekend!
Lol yes I did it by myself! I’m kind of stubborn like that 🙂
BEAUTIFUL pics from your hike! I loveee hiking tough trails!
I hope you have a blast this weekend!
xoxo!
Thanks! The hike really was breathtaking!
what gorgeous photos! wow what a hike!
The photos barely capture it, the views were amazing!
Well done, Katie! That looked like SO much fun! Let me know if you ever want to do it again 🙂
Haha we’ll see
Just discovered your blog, I especially liked your one year post – it made it easy to catch up! Best of luck with your upcoming 3L year, I’m an attorney in NV so your 2L post was a flashback for me. 🙂 Great photos!
Thanks for reading!! Ahhh so ready for 3L to be done! Haha scared too though!